


But I promise we'll take the world to its feet

by Yeziel_Moore



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 100 words challenge, Coda, Fluff, Introspection, Team TARDIS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-06 13:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16388570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeziel_Moore/pseuds/Yeziel_Moore
Summary: 100 words drabbles in no particular order, prompted by random words, inspired by the amazing new Doctor.





	1. Dissociate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _v. to sever the association of; disconnect; separate._ __  
> _to undergo dissociation._

  
There's this moment during regeneration, where the life you're leaving behind and the life you are hurtling towards collide and stretch like cosmic putty. And in the middle of that is you, trapped between what was and what will be. Frozen, like a mosquito inside amber. Bearing witness to the stranger that is no longer you and the stranger you don't yet know.

More than anything, this is what you hate the most about regeneration. That perfect moment of nonexistence that stretches and stretches and stretches beyond infinity, before snapping you forwards your new self. The perfect moment of death.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no particular timeline here. Just me dusting off my fingertips and trying to excercise my creative muscle before it atrophies.  
> Also no particular doctor (or maybe all of them).


	2. Preceptor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A teacher; an instructor._

I think, if circumstances had gone differently, if i hadn't seen what i saw or ran when i did; i think, I'd have enjoyed being a teacher then. And not just _a_ teacher, but _The_ Teacher.

I'm always teaching, after all. Telling my friends how to do new things, regaling them with information about the places we visit, showing them interesting paths to tread and new ways to grow.

Then again, teachers and doctors aren't all that different. Both save people. While doctors save the bodies, giving way to life; teachers save the soul, making sure life is worth living.

 


	3. Perturb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _v. To disturb or confuse; make uneasy or anxious._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11, Ep3: Rosa.

  
It's not, of course, the first time the Doctor has been confronted with blatant racism. Discrimination is an unfortunate staple of the universe, eddying and ebbing through time, but never fading away completely. 

It's not even the first time her friends got slapped with the harsh reality of it.

She remembers Martha Jones, a Shakespearean adventure and some very valid concerns about her safety that her pretty boy self had blatantly disregarded. Not out of malice, no; but what did that matter when ignorance could get you hurt just as easy as malice. 

Well, not on her watch. Not anymore.

 


	4. Skepticism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11, Ep1: The woman who fell to earth.

  
“There’s no such thing as aliens.”

Humans! Always so skeptical! You’d think the tentacle monster or having a person-shaped being fall through the roof of a train would be enough proof of weirdness. Or the fact that she got up immediately afterwards. Because she was fine. 

The Doctor’s sight blacked out for a second, but she continued moving as if nothing had happened. It was practically instinct after all these centuries. Don’t show weakness, don’t alarm the locals, everything’s fine here. Just fine, fine-ish. That usually happens after regeneration. Totally normal. 

Moving on!

“Why not? I’m alien and I’m here.”

 


	5. Piercing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A piece of jewelry designed to be worn through a perforation in a body part._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11, Ep1: The woman who fell to earth.

  
A change, that's what she needs. New clothes, yes, but also something else, something more. She's different this time around, proper different, doubly different? It's not even the gender switch. That was a bit if a shocker for sure, but not more than if she had changed skin color or ethnicity.

It's the inside that's different this time. She feels… hopeful. Like an enormous weight has been lifted from her shoulders. She needs something to reflect that change.

Yaz and Ryan are showing her around when she spots the tattoo parlour and suddenly she knows exactly what she wants.

“Brilliant.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll today. :)  
> I also love the theory that the NewWho Doctors represent the 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance), and so our adorable lucky 13th has finally reached Acceptance.


	6. Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. The state of being responsible for a fault or error; culpability._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11, Ep1: The woman who fell to earth.

 

“Ryan, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just… it’s my fault, what happened, isn’t it? If I hadn’t…”

“No! No, listen to me Ryan, listen! It’s not your fault. It’s _not_. Don’t think about ‘what ifs’, they’re useless and evil.”

“But-!”

“Fine! Imagine you didn’t touch it. Do you think the Stenza would’ve given up? Of course not! And then the gathering coil would’ve attacked the same train because Karl was there. Rahul would’ve tracked Tim Shaw again because of his sister. And your Nan would’ve helped because that’s the kind of person she was, yeah?”

“She was like that, yeah. Thanks Doc.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine this conversation had to happen again once the losses, especially Grace's, had time to sink in.  
> Also, I totally believe that the Doctor's new Fam will go around time and space calling her Doc; and you can pry this headcanon from my cold dead fingers, xD


	7. Trackless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _adj. Unmarked by trails or paths._

 

“Here we are!” The Doctor announces with a flourish. “A completely uninhabited planet just like you asked Graham.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

The glint in her eyes tells him he spoke too soon.

“Well, I say uninhabited.”

 _Oh, no_. Ryan is already laughing.

“But what I really mean is…”

 **_Oh, no_ **. Now Yasmin is laughing too.

“…unconquered,” she finishes. As if on cue, the long neck of a Brachiosaurus bends down over them to munch on a tree mere feet away.

“Well?”

“...I hate you, Doc”

“No, you don't.”

Graham looks up at a childhood dream come true.

“Ok, maybe I don't.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Rosa I can't help but picture this Doctor as a bit of a (benign) troll. Just, this whole exchange:  
> "You ain't Banksy." "Or am I?" and "Banksy didn't have one of those. Or have I?"  
> What a little shit. xD


	8. Bland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _adj. devoid of any distinctive or stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; dull_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda linked to the previous one, Trackless.

 

“I dreamt of being a paleontologist as a kid, you know?”

“Really? Why didn't you?” Yasmin sounds surprised. He doesn't blame her, paleontologist is far too fanciful for someone like him.

He shrugs his shoulders. 

“I grew up, life got in the way,” he hesitated, “I just didn't dare.”

“I travelled with a guy like you once, Graham.” The Doctor interjected. “Stable, solid, dependable. He didn't mind the running, not really, but in the end all he needed to be happy was his… family.”

“Let me guess, he married a spitfire.”

The Doctor smiled wistfully. “Oh, you have no idea.”

 


	9. Remembrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. the act of remembering or state of being remembered_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda continued from Trackless and Bland

  
In all her lives, she had never been one to look back; this was especially true of her lives after the Time War. Back then, it had seemed as if every single friend of hers had ended up lost, tortured, dead or worse. It had been one long line of tragedy. 

She just couldn’t cope. 

So she had run, as she always did. And for the longest time she didn’t dare look back, for fear of the devastation she was sure to see. 

Things were different now. Maybe she could be too. 

“His name was Rory and she was Amelia…”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this wishful thinking? Most likely. But i can still dream about the Doctor acquiring some healthy coping mechanisms someday.


	10. Dichotomy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A division into two contrasting parts or categories._

  
The best thing of being a time traveller is that things never have to end, unless you want them to.

The worst thing of being a time traveller is that things never really end, not even when you want them to.

You can never know when your past will catch up to you for another round of heartbreak, or when your future will double back with a pocketful of surprises, mysteries and frustrations.

You don’t regret it, you can’t. You love your life and all your friends (past, present and future), but it does gets overwhelming from time to time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a, Insert your favorite Doctor as the POV, chapter. x)


	11. Nipper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A small child._

  
“You’re quite good at that,” Graham appraises the cerulean toddler happily snoozing away in the Doctor’s arm and the little cephalopod-like one pinning her legs.

“No need to sound so surprised, Graham.” The ridiculous alien they call friend says. “I’ll have you know that kids adore me. This me at least. Past me would’ve sent them running, or ran away first, it’s a toss up honestly.”

“They probably sense a compatriot in you, Doc,” teases Ryan from a corner devoid of kids.

“Oi!”

Graham considers her careful grip and ponders. Thousands of years old, she’d said. That’s… well. Tragic, really.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Graham, so close yet so far. Still, he defo sees a lot more than Yaz and Ryan.


	12. Quirk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. An individual peculiarity of character; mannerism or foible._

  
“You’re a quirky one, aren't you, Doc?”

The Doctor blinks, surprised. Really? Is she?

_._

_“Tim Shaw?”_

_“T’zim-Sha!”_

_“Well, Tim Shaw, let me be really clear. You’re not taking any human from Earth tonight. Leave now or we’re going to stop you.”_

_._

_“And as hard as it is for you to understand, Enzo-”_

_“That’s not my-”_

_“…you are not the only life form in this universe. So go be useless somewhere else while we fix this situation we’re in.”_

_._

_“What's your name?”_

_“Krasko.”_

_“Don't like it. So listen, Kuzco, I'll give you one warning.”_

_._

“Nope, no idea what you’re talking about.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did this happen? Nope. Do i wish it had happened? Certainly, XD


	13. Ineffable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _adj. Incapable of being expressed; indescribable or unutterable._   
>  _Not to be uttered; taboo._   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to the tumblr anon that prompt me the word **Ineffable**.  
>  A bit inspired by Good Omens too, xD

  
“Is Doctor really your name?” Yasmin asks once they’re finally settled.

“I mean, it’s the name I choose,” the Doctor flails uselessly. “Why does everyone always ask the same Question? It’s the name I introduced myself with so, logically, it must be my name.”

“Well, you gotta admit, Doctor’s a bit weird for a name.” Points out Ryan.

The Doctor opens her mouth to protest, closes it. Sighs.

“It’s the only name I use. The other one’s a bit entwined with the Fate of the Universe. Very dangerous stuff.”

“...You’d tell us if you were God, right, Doc?”

Silence.

 **_“What?!”  
_**   



	14. Fixed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _adj. Not subject to change or fluctuation._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11, Ep3: Rosa.

_  
“And if there is one thing I'm certain of, when people need help, I never refuse.” _

The words, her  _ oath _ , reverberated in her head with the intensity and urgency of the TARDIS cloister bell. However, as she recounted the seats for the hundred time, she knew the truth. 

“Has it worked, have we done enough?” Yaz asked.

“I don’t know,” she dithered. 

The timelines were still in flux, so maybe… Then the last passenger arrived and Graham stood up and the timelines snapped into place with enough force to stagger her. They were part of history now. They were stuck.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even with the new episode, I'm still not over Rosa.


	15. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _v. To go or come back, as to an earlier condition or place._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11, Ep3: Rosa.

  
Like looking back, revisiting old adventures wasn't something she made a habit of. It's not like she  _ couldn't _ , she could go anywhere multiple times if she was careful. And sometimes, she accidentally encountered old friends again; but that’s the key word, accidentally.

This time though… She couldn't get Graham’s tears, Ryan's indignation or Yaz’s fear out of her mind.

So here they were, in a dark corner in 1999, watching the elderly Rosa parks walk up to president Clinton to receive the Congressional Medal after a lifetime of fighting.  

She looked at the elated faces of her friends and smiled.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if, instead of watching it from the telly, the Doctor actually took them there.


	16. Web

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A structure of delicate, threadlike filaments characteristically spun by spiders._   
>  _Any structure, construction, etc, that is intricately formed or complex._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coda to S11E04: Arachnids in the UK

  
“Spiders, always with the spiders,” the Doctor mutters.

“What is wrong with spiders?” Jade asks indignantly.

“Besides the obvious, you mean,” Ryan points out.

“Oh, nothing wrong with most spiders, I’ve just had a few hair-raising encounters with some unfriendly exceptions before.”

The Doctor remembers the Racnoss, technically not a spider, but still, po-tay-to po-tah-to, all that. Also that time when Barbara got caught in a giant spider’s web. And that other time with the Master of Spiders.

“Let’s hope this has nothing to do with Metebelis III. That’d be a right mess.”

“Metebelis III?”

"Two words, Ryan: Psychic spiders.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who watched "Planet of the Spiders" the day before episode 4 aired? Yup, me. xD  
> All the spider references were taken from Tardis Wikia and are adventures the Doc had (in his 1st to 3rd and 10th body, i think).


	17. Catnap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A short sleep or doze._

  
Yaz carefully drapes a hand-knitted comforter over the Doctor’s legs and backs away towards the other side of the sitting room, where Graham is reading and Ryan is snoring away. 

She barely stops herself from collapsing on the armchair next to the fireplace. Yaz doesn’t know how or why a time-and-space ship has a fireplace, but she welcomes the normality of it. 

Graham looks up from his book, to the Doctor and back again.

“Finally asleep then?” 

“Yeah, finally,” Yaz exhales. She was beat. 

“Maybe you should follow her example,” he suggests softly. 

“Yeah, maybe…” She murmurs, already halfway asleep.   
  



	18. Jack-o’-lantern.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A lantern made from a hollow pumpkin that has been carved to look like a face._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a crossover with _Nightmare Before Christmas_ (or maybe kingdom hearts, who knows, lmao).  
>   
>  **HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!** ヘ(◕。◕ヘ)

  
“Doctor, what  _ is _ this place?”

Said alien pops her head outside, jaw dropping a bit as she takes in the bizarre sight in front of her. The darker than black sky with no stars, just a ghostly moon, the foreboding atmosphere, the old and twisted architecture of the town and, least but not last, the gloomy cemetery where the TARDIS has parked.

“We… seem to have crossed to a parallel universe.” Bit less impossible now, still bothersome. 

Footsteps. Someone was coming. 

“Hello! Can you tell us where we are?”

“Oh, visitors! How grand! I’m Jack Skellington. Welcome to Halloween Town!”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I figure, now that Gallifrey is back in the Universe, even if in the End of it, travel between realities may have stabilized a bit. Maybe. Probably. XD


	19. Trinity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _n. A group of three closely related persons or things._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because not a lot of people like them, **warning** for the (very brief) appearance of Missy.

 

They watch from the safety of the TARDIS as the refugee ship leaves the atmosphere of the dead planet below them. Her new friends are lost somewhere in her ship. None of them had wanted to go, so she had tricked them.

“I promised myself to be kind,” is all she says. She feels cold.

“Oh, my dear Doctor, you forget. You were never just kind, you’re Good.”

“Am I really?”

“Indeed. Good can be kind, that’s just empathy put into action,” Missy flaps a hand around. “But you seem to have forgotten, my dear, that good is rarely nice.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we all know that nobody kills the Master/Mistress, not even himself. I love their character, so they'll probably reappear sometime. How and Why and what happened to get Missy there? ...Well, no idea   
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Also, i have a lot of thoughts about the differences between kind, nice and good. They're definitely _not_ the same thing, Doc please make up your mind.


	20. Resilient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _adj. Recovering easily and quickly from shock, illness, hardship, etc; irrepressible._

  
The human race.

So fragile, so delicate. They were born and most of them died almost before they could do anything with their lives. Like mayflies caught in the storm that was life. And yet… they shone so bright that the Doctor couldn’t help but be charmed by them.

It’s why she visited Earth in the first place, when she was old yet young and naive. It’s why she kept coming back, time and time again, disaster after disaster, joy after joy.

They always bounce back and she has always admired that. That’s how she knows they’ll survive this too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty generic, but i was thinking about the trailer for the next episode that will air this Sunday.


	21. Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _adj. Drained of strength and energy; fatigued often to the point of exhaustion._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12th Doctor centric. And maybe a bit of warning because of the sheer _Tired From Life_ feeling i got form his last episodes.

  
Worn out. That’s him. He’s come so far, done so many things, good and bad and everything in-between. Now he’s just tired. Of running and saving and losing. Always losing. Friends and strangers and enemies and family, he’s lost them all, sometimes more than once.

It’d been so exciting. Once upon a time, the mere thought of going places and meeting new people could put a spring on his steps, no matter how grumpy he acted. Now… now the thought of doing it all over again feels like a noose around his neck, choking him. He can’t do it again.


	22. Caterwaul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _v. To make a shrill, discordant sound._

  
“What is that infernal noise?!” Graham exclaims as he enters the console room, hands pressed against his ears. 

Immediately, the electronic wailing cuts off with a strangled screech. Greatly relieved, Graham peers into one of the little alcoves dotted around the room and sees the Doctor awkwardly holding an electric guitar by the neck. 

He raises an eyebrow at her and marvels at the blush that is creeping up her neck. Instead of looking at him she glares petulantly down at the instrument. 

“I used to know how this worked,” she pouts outrageously and Graham can't help it, he laughs.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My good mood and muse kinda absconded these past days :(   
> But well, Happy Birthday to Me. And in true hobbit fashion, have a little gift!

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me at my tumblr [ yezielmoore](http://yezielmoore.tumblr.com)  
> Leave one-word prompts if you want. I'll do my best to use them. :)


End file.
